Monday, March 31, 2014

NOTE: This is the 15th
anniversary of our SOUND BITES Ministry™.It was begun on March 29, 1999, in memory of our son, Dustin. Because of
his disabilities and death he might have been considered to be THE LEAST
CAPABLE SPOKESMAN for Christ. But now, 15 years later, God is still inspiring
through Dustin's life.So on this
15th anniversary, as we have done each year, we invite you to share
how SOUND BITES has ministered to you and how you have used SOUND BITES to
minister to others. Since SOUND BITES is now available via e-mail, blog, Facebook,
and Twitter, you are welcome to respond through any of those means.Blessings…Rev. Dave WilkinsonSOUND BITES Ministry™

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THE LEAST CAPABLE SPOKESMANI think often of a young man in his early teens whom Dr. Tony
Campolo described in one of his messages. This boy was named Jerry, and he had
been afflicted from birth with cerebral palsy. Jerry walked and talked with
great difficulty, yet he came to a Christian summer camp where Dr. Campolo was
the principal speaker. It was apparent from the first day that Jerry would be
rejected by the other junior highers who immediately set about establishing a
hierarchy of social power. An "in group" emerged, as it always does,
composed mostly of the good-looking guys and the cute girls. They were far too
sophisticated and selfish to mess around with a "cripple" -- a
"loser" like Jerry. They were also rude to the other outcasts -- the
kids who had been hurt and those who lacked confidence. They didn't stand a
chance.All
week Dr. Campolo watched Jerry struggle to find his place. It was brutal to
witness. The popular kids mocked the way he walked and talked. They would
imitate his labored speech, saying "Whaaaaaaaat . . . tiiiimmmme . . .
issssssss . . . ccrrrraaaaafffftttss . . . cclllaaaaasssss?" Then they
would all laugh hysterically as though Jerry were deaf. At other times, they
avoided him like a plague. Dr. Camplolo said he has never hated anyone in his
life, but he came close to it in that instance -- seeing what those insensitive
and cruel teenagers were doing to the spirit of one who had already suffered
more than his share.A
service was held the final morning of the camp, during which the students were
invited to give their testimonies about what Jesus Christ meant to them. One by
one, the superstars came to the microphone -- the athletes, the cheerleaders,
and the [other] popular kids. They delivered their little canned speeches, but
there was no power in their witness. Their words were empty.Then,
as Dr. Campolo sat on the platform, he was startled to see Jerry making his way
down the aisle from the back of the auditorium. The other students saw him too,
and they began to whisper and point. Then a ripple of laughter passed over the
crow. Ever so slowly, Jerry came to the platform and then carefully and
painfully climbed the three stairs at the side. Finally, he reached the
microphone. He stood for a moment looking at his peers, and then said with
great effort, "I . . . looooovvvve . . . Jeeeeesssssuuuusss . . .
aaannnndddddddd . . . Jeeeeeeeessssuuusssss . . . loooooovvvvvvesssssss . . .
mmeeeeeeeeeee!" Then Jerry turned to make his long journey back to his
seat.Campolo said Jerry's simple testimony went through that
crowd of teenagers like a bolt of lightning. His expression of love for God,
despite the physical disability and the ridicule he had taken, exposed the sin
and selfishness in their lives. They began streaming into the aisles and down
to a place of prayer at the front. The Lord had used the least capable
spokesman among all those teenagers to accomplish His purposes.-- Dr. James Dobson in When
God Doesn't Make Sense#3404

Friday, March 28, 2014

Our generation desperately
needs to rediscover the difference between praying
for and praying through.There are certainly circumstances where
praying for something will get the job done.I believe in short prayers before meals because, quite frankly, I
believe in eating food while it's still hot.But there are also situations where you need to grab hold of the horns
of the altar and refuse to let go until God answers… you refuse to move from
the circle until God moves.You
intercede until God intervenes.Praying through is all about
consistency.It's circling Jericho so many times it
makes you dizzy.Like the story Jesus
told about the persistent widow who drove the judge crazy with her relentless
requests, praying through won't take no for an answer.Circle makers know that it's always too soon
to quit praying because you never know when the wall is about to fall.You are always only one prayer away from a
miracle.Praying through is all about
intensity.It's not quantitative; it's
qualitative.Drawing prayer circles
involves more than words; it's gut-wrenching groans and heartbreaking tears.Praying through doesn't just bend God's ear;
it touches the heart of your heavenly Father.-- Mark Batterson in The Circle Maker#3403

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Professor Donald Francis Toney often said to his
students at Edinburgh
that in music the rests are just as important as the notes. At first that
appears to be an exaggeration, but musicians tell me that a choral or orchestra
director soon learns that without careful attention to pause, the music will
lose much of its beauty. So in the music of life, the rests must be written
into the score. That's the way we keep coming in trust to God. We deliberately
wait on the Lord to receive the gift of [rest].--
Maxie Dunnam in Living the Psalms: A Confidence for All Seasons#3402

Friday, March 21, 2014

"…we
know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and
character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been
poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to
us." (Romans 5:3b-5 NIV)Ultimately
there is tremendous grace in suffering -- not because of the pain of the
suffering itself but because suffering allows us to reorient ourselves in ways
that we simply could never have done had life proceeded in an untroubled
manner.Suffering gives us the occasion
to listen as we never have listened before -- both to new words and to new
sources of wisdom -- and to turn listening into seeing.--
William Long & Glandion Carney in A Hard-Fought Hope#3401

Thursday, March 20, 2014

A sentence in one of the
books [I was reading on osteoporosis prevention] struck me: "Like all
living tissue, bone is constantly being broken down and reformed."The words seemed to apply not only to our
bodies but to the perpetual Christian emphasis on brokenness.Repent!Confess!Acknowledge your
sinfulness!I grow tired of this
continual retracing of steps, impatient for the beckoning road ahead.But it was the word ‘living’ that leaped out
at me.It's living tissue that is
continually torn down and rebuilt.As
long as my relationship to God is alive, this biological fact seems to suggest
the tearing-down process will be part of it.The confession of sin, the admission of guilt, will go hand in hand with
renewal. ... There can be no growth without pruning, no rebirth without
death.-- Elizabeth Sherrill in Journey into Rest#3400

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

“How is your spiritual life
going?”I used to answer this
question by looking at the state of my devotional activities:Did I pray and read the Bible enough
today?The problem is that by this measure
the Pharisees always win.People can be
very disciplined but remain proud and spiteful.How do we measure spiritual growth so that the Pharisees don’t win?I asked a wise man, “How do
you assess the well-being of your soul?”He immediately said, “I ask
myself two questions”:

Am I growing more easily discouraged these days?

Am I growing more easily irritated these days?

At the core of a flourishing
soul are the love of God and the peace of God.If peace is growing in me, I am less easily discouraged.If love is growing, I am less easily
irritated.It was a brilliantly helpful
diagnostic to assess the health of my soul.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Jesus
said, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?
The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own; but the Father who dwells
in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me;…"
(John 14:10-11a NRSV)We
may with complete detachment study and form a judgment upon a religion, but we
cannot maintain our detachment if the subject of our inquiry proves to be God
Himself.This is, of course, why many
otherwise honest intellectual people will construct a neat by-pass around the
claim of Jesus to be God. Being people of insight and imagination, they know
perfectly well that once to accept such a claim as fact would mean a
readjustment of their own purposes and values and affections which they may
have no wish to make.To call Jesus the
greatest Figure in History or the finest Moral Teacher the world has ever seen
commits no one to anything.But once to
allow the startled mind to accept as fact that this man is really… God, may
commit anyone to anything!There is
every excuse for blundering in the dark, but in the light there is no cover
from reality.It is because we strongly
sense this, and not merely because we feel that the evidence is ancient and
scanty, that we shrink from committing ourselves to such a far-reaching belief
as that Jesus Christ was really God.--
J. B. Phillips, in Your God is Too Small#3398

Monday, March 17, 2014

Christ be with me, Christ within me,Christ behind me, Christ before me,Christ beside me, Christ to win me,Christ to comfort and restore me,Christ beneath me, Christ above me,Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,Christ in hearts of all that love me,Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.-- Attributed to St. Patrick, Fifth Century#3397

Friday, March 14, 2014

"You are the salt of
the earth…" (Matthew 5:13a)"It is the nature of
the divine savour [salt] which is in you, to spread to whatsoever you touch; to
diffuse itself, on every side, to all those among whom you are.This is the great reason why the providence
of God has so mingled you together with [others], that whatever grace you have
received of God may through you be communicated to others…"-- John Wesley, quoted by Robert Schnase in Five
Practices of Fruitful Living#3396

Thursday, March 13, 2014

"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good
news!"(Mark 1:15 NIV)Repentance
prepares us for God's presence.In fact,
you cannot live in His presence without repentance.Repentance permits pursuit of His presence.It builds the road for you to get to God (or
for God to get to you!).--Tommy
Tenney in The Heart of A God Chaser#3395

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Grace strikes at unexpected
times, Tillich suggests: when we are in pain, feeling restless, empty, alone,
estranged, or when we feel disgust, weakness, or hostility.It strikes us when other things don't work,
when we feel directionless and useless, when compulsions reign, and darkness
overshadows.When the ordinariness of
life grinds us down, or the vacuity of the world's promises leaves us empty,
when we finally realize our churning and churning is taking us nowhere fast, in
such moments, grace comes to us like a wave of light in the darkness, and we
perceive a voice saying, "You are accepted.""We don't know the name
of it at the time; there will be much to learn later," Tillich
writes.We don't have to promise
anything at the time, for in that moment we are fundamentally the recipients of
a promise.We don't have to give
anything; only to receive what is given.Our only and singular task is to accept
that we are accepted.You are loved.You are loved.You
are loved.Can you accept that?-- Robert Schnase in Five Practices of Fruitful Living#3394

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

"Yet
in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For
I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor
powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any
other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-39)I
cannot continuously say 'No' to this or 'No' to that, unless there is something
ten times more attractive to choose. Saying 'No' to my lust, my greed, my
needs, and the world's powers takes an enormous amount of energy. The only hope
is to find something so obviously real and attractive that I can devote all my
energies to saying 'Yes.' ... One such thing I can say 'Yes' to is when I come
in touch with the fact that I am loved. Once I have found that in my total brokenness
I am still loved, I become free from the compulsion of doing successful
things.--
Henri Nouwen, in an interview in Leadership Journal#3393

Monday, March 10, 2014

Iris Bammert walked slower
than most to the podium.Her face
reflected a quiet confidence that no matter how long it took, she would reach
her goal.At last, she reached the
microphone and spoke with gentle strength."God has let me know that in this life we have tribulation, but be
of good cheer.I have overcome the
world."

Iris had suffered a debilitating stroke in the prime of her life.Her whole world changed in a moment -- from
self-sufficiency to complete dependency.She can't drive a car anymore; instead she's driven to her knees in
prayer, seeking a strength that is not her own.She can barely speak, but God enabled her to remind the women in our
Bible study, "This life is not so important.Don't forget the Lord is the One who does
everything in and through us."

God does not ask you to walk
in your own strength -- He knows that is impossible.However, He does promise to give you the
strength you need to walk in a way that is pleasing to Him.Philippians 4:13 reminds us, "I can do
everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need" (NLT).

Friday, March 7, 2014

Jesus said that we should "not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."As our bodies are fed by food, so our spirits
are fed by words with ideas and images.We are flooded by words that can mislead us, so we need to feed our
minds each day from the Word of God.I often feed my mind by taking a thought from Scripture: --
Nothing can separate us from the love of God.-- I can
do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.-- God
is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.Try to let your mind feast on the Word of God throughout
the day.-- John Ortberg in God Is Closer Than You Think#3391

Thursday, March 6, 2014

I recently read an article at www.rethinkchurch.org by Sophia
Agtarap, a United Methodist deacon candidate, about creating sacred space in
your home. In it she noted that "With the change in seasons comes the
opportunity for a change not just in our schedules and wardrobes, but also in
our physical, mental and spiritual spaces… This act of creating a sacred space,
when done with purpose, can help move us into a deeper connection with
ourselves, with God and with our physical environment." She goes on to
suggest that while some might set aside a small room to transform, others may
simply find a small corner of their space, however big or small.What are those reminders of the sacred, of faith,
that you might include? What are those reminders of love and fellowship, of
peace and calm? What are those reminders of the beauty and uniqueness of God's
creation? It may be a painting or photograph. It may be the warmth of a glowing
candle or the simple shape of the cross. It may be that Bible your grandmother
gave you, or a smooth stone from a walk along the lakeshore. "Whatever
those pieces are that ground you, and tell you that you are beloved," she
wrote, "assemble them to call to you so that whenever you pass them by,
you are reminded that you are safe and you are loved."

On my photography website I have captured some
images that you might want to consider in creating a sacred space for yourself.
They have to do with sunsets and water, wood and stones, crosses and
crucifixes, and Lent and Easter. I invite you to visit the various galleries on
the website to see what might help you create a sacred space this Lenten
season.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

"The
sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and
repentant heart, O God." (Psalm 51:17 NLT)Repentance
is but a kind of table-talk, till we see so much of the deformity of our inward
nature as to be in some degree frightened and terrified at the sight of
it...Sooner or later repentance must
have a broken and a contrite heart…--
William Law in Christian Regeneration#3389

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

A filmmaking technique teaches us a way to see God
in the ordinary.A cinematographer, Bob
Fisher, wrote a passionate article recently about the need for movie crews to
spend some time every day reviewing the film that was shot the day before.By delaying production temporarily to review
the previous day's work, filmmakers can spot little mistakes while they can
still be corrected and can celebrate what is going right.In Fisher's words, "Watching film
dailies is uplifting. It energizes everyone."In a similar way, it's a very helpful thing for us
to take a few moments to "review the dailies" with God.You can do this right now by walking through
yesterday in your mind with God and asking where He was present and at work in
each scene.Start with the moment when
you woke up in the morning.God was
present, waking you up, giving you a mini-resurrection.What were your first thoughts?What do you think God wanted to say to you in
that moment?Then go on from one scene to the next through your
day.As I review what happened when I
greeted my family, ate breakfast, and went through meetings at work, I see
patterns emerging -- the ongoing presence of anxiety or anger -- that I miss
when I don't take time to review the dailies.Most of all, I look and listen to see how God is speaking to me through
these scenes.I realize He was talking
to me through the words of another person or the lines of a book or the therapy
of laughter.The more often I review,
the better I get at recognizing Him in "real time."--
John Ortberg in God Is Closer Than You Think#3388

Monday, March 3, 2014

“For
we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do
the good things He planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)We
were fashioned from the Creator, in God's own image.The apostle Paul notes in Ephesians 2:10 that
we are God's poema, the Greek word from which our English word poem is
derived.We are God's poetry, God's
works of art!--
Adam Hamilton in Confronting the Controversies#3387

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Welcome to SOUND BITES

By David T. Wilkinson

Over the years I have collected quotes that pertain to the Christian faith and life in general. As I have read or studied what others have written, I have been struck by the profound thought that is captured in their few short words. These quotes have been shared through SOUND BITES Ministry™ , a five-day-a-week inspirational e-mail ministry, and now are shared through this blog as well. You will also find us on Facebook by clicking SOUND BITES Ministry on Facebook.

Visit the photo website of David T. Wilkinson Photography which celebrates God's creation. Click on the image below...

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How SOUND BITES came to be

During Lent 1999 God prompted me to think about a new idea as to how I might share these thoughts with a broader audience. At the same time, our family was experiencing the first anniversary of the death of our son, Dustin, who died at the age of sixteen from a brain tumor. So, beginning on that anniversary, March 29, 1999 we began an e-mail ministry in memory of Dustin that we call SOUND BITES: Something to chew on that is good for the soul™. Five days a week, Monday through Friday, I share one of these quotes with subscribers. Hopefully recipients find something of faith and life to think about and chew on, which feeds their soul and helps them grow spiritually. Since its inception, over 4,000 daily quotes have been sent out. The subscriber list continues to grow numerically and geographically with subscribers in every state in the U.S., and also in Canada, Mexico, and numerous other countries around the world. Currently more than 2000 subscribers receive SOUND BITES directly via e-mail and many others second hand. Now through this blog we expand our outreach even more. To read comments on the 13th anniversary of SOUND BITES Ministry™, click 13th Anniversary Comments.